NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



77 



to grass. Sometimes he sows as late as October- 

 If he sees the grass start well, it succeeds, and he 

 generally gets two tons an acre the next season. 

 He used seaweed or kelp as manure for grasslands. 

 He had found no benefit from plaster. 



Mr. IJrooks said, that by raising large crops he 

 had reference to farming with high manuring. 



Hon. Amasa Walker, of Brookfield, observed 

 that he purchased a piece of pasture land that had 

 probably been pastured 75 years, without manure, 

 and it was nearly exhausted. He applied plaster, 

 and it brough in white clover, and produced fine 

 crops. The farmers in New Braintree apply a lit- 

 tle plaster to their pastures annually, and they have 

 the very best of pasturage. Plaster costs but little, 

 and it should be applied several years in succes- 

 sion. 



Mr. Proctor, President of the Essex Agricultural 

 Society, said that in Ipswich, the main business of 

 farmers was to raise hay, and in some seasons 2000 

 tons were sold from that town; whether it was all 

 raised there he could not tell. In that town the 

 best farmers harrow their grass lands after mowing 

 and sow grass seed. Others subsoil their lands, 

 without disturbing the surface, and then manure and 

 sow to grass. In his neighborhood, the late Mr. 

 King was very successfu I in improving light lands. 

 He turned them over, manured, and re-seeded. 

 This he often repeated. He got one and a half or 

 two tons to the acre, and his light lands became 

 very profitable. About Marblehead, manure from 

 the beach was used for grass lands, with good ef- 

 fect. They produce continuous good crops with<mt 

 tilling. Mr. Stone, of Marblehead, fed four cows for 

 three months on five acres of pasture land, and he 

 received a premium for his butter. Plaster had 

 been applied in Nahant with good results. 



Subject for the next evening, "The best kinds of 

 Cattle for New England." 



As the President, in his remarks on the various 

 agricultual journals, named several among us, and 

 spoke of their extensive circulation and utility, 

 without ever alluding to our publications, while he 

 spoke of others with a much more limited influence, 

 we would remark that w-e consider it highly desir- 

 able for a public speaker to be sufficiently acquainted 

 with his subject to do it justice, avoiding partiality 

 or neglect. 



We had a specimen of a similar character last 

 winter, in which a publisher's statement of his list 

 was exhibited at the meeting, and we have known 

 publishers to represent their list several thousand 

 higher than reality. 



'A London ship-builder challenges the world 

 to build a swift sailing vessel. He does not care 

 what the tonnage may be. The challenge has 

 been published in the London Times. Some of 

 our ship-buildeis will surely take him up and beat 

 him out and out. — Scientific American. 



AGRICULTURAL QUESTIONS. 



At the second Legislative Agricultural Meeting 

 the following resolve was passed. 



Resolved, That a committee of two be appointed, 

 whose duty it shall be to prepare appropriate ques- 

 tions on the subjects successively discussed in the 

 Legislative Agricultural Meetings, which the sec- 

 retary shall cause to be published from week to week 

 for investigation by the farmers of the common- 

 wealth , or for discussion at the agricultural meet- 

 ings next year. 



Under this resolve Prof. W. C. Fowler, of Am- 

 herst, and Gen. Caleb Cushing, of Newbury, were 

 appointed a committee to prepare the questions. 



Agreeably to the preceding resolve, the com- 

 mittee have forwarded the following questions. 

 No. 1. — Subject, The Potato Disease. 



I. Does the disease extend to the whole race or 

 only to that part which has been cultivated? 



This question can be answered by investigating 

 the state of the plant in those regions w here it is 

 said to grow spontaneously. If the desease is cdn- 

 stitutional and extends to the whole race, then there 

 would seem to be no remedy: If it extends only to 

 the cultivated part, then the proper way will be to 

 obtain seed from those plants which grow sponta- 

 neously. 



II. If the disease pertains only to the cultivated 

 portion of the race, does it extend to the whole of 

 that portion, or only to certain varieties? If certain 

 other varieties are free from the disease or less li- 

 able to it than others, then they should be caiefully 

 sought and planted. 



III. As a remedial process, has the experiment 

 been fully tried of planting seed from several suc- 

 cessive generations of the plant, instead of the 

 t uber? 



IV . As witnessed from year to year does the di- 

 sease commence with the vines, or with the tuber' 



y. Is the disease attributable to an atmospheric 

 influence analogous to that of malaria in the hu- 

 man race ? and if so do some exposures suffer more 

 than others? 



VI. Has the mode of cure recommended by Bar- 

 on Liebig and D. Klotzsch, namely, that of cutting 

 or pinching, off the top of the vines, been thorough- 

 ly tried in our country ? 



VII. What are the effects of charcoal, sulphur 

 and salt when used as remedial agcnits ? 



VIII. Does climate have an influence in some 

 cases to prevent and in some to produce disease? 



IX. Does excessive dryness or excessive raois- 

 ture,whether in the ground or in (he cellar, have an 

 influence to produce disease ? 



X. Is the disease attributable to some soils ratli- 

 er than to others? and to some manures rather than 

 to others ? 



XI. Is the plant subject to diflfcrent diseases or 

 to different types of the same disease? 



XII. Have experiments been made as to the val- 



